It is still dark and the household sleeps…  

Lying awake at home in my own bed is bad enough, but lying awake in someone else’s house is different.  I know I have the run of the house and can go downstairs to make a cuppa; alas doing so silently is not an option.  Going downstairs leads to rather loud groaning on my part, caused by a sharp stab in my hip.  Roll on 12th March.

Well, ‘Bloggers’ day has arrived and soon the call to get in the car will ring out.  I have no idea how many of us will be on the flight at lunchtime but it should be fun.  It will be like a school outing! 😀

I am not sure if my new toy fits into my baggage allowence so there may be no post in the morning.  In the mean time I want to say…

Yesterday saw the end of my year of Celebration and BOY was it fun!  An end to being a joint winner of the Best Personal Blog for 2008.  

I have often heard a ‘Miss World’ talk of her year of adventure, mine was just as exciting.  Thanks to blogging I have taken part in BarCamp, CreativeCamp & PodCamp, I attended the Slugger Awards and sat on Slugger’s knee seat!  I was interviewed for Podcasts and for newspapers, and asked to write guest blog posts from here to India!  I took part in a photoshoot for the Irish Times newspaper, attended a Photo Walk and a Geek Girl Dinner.

I appeared on Television, was rescued from floods of biblical proportions, and taken home to ‘meet mother’!.

Most important of all I have learned that far from being a temple of oddballs and potential serial killers, the blogosphere is full of lively engaging people – I am treated with respect & courtesy, the ‘geeks’ have not forgotten how to behave.  We’re friends not by location or luck, but friends with amazing similar interests and sense of humour.

The friends I have made from blogging are now some of the best friends I have.  We may be spread wide geographically, but I feel closer to you than to anyone I went to school with!.

None of this would have happened if my daughter had not introduced me to the world of geekdom and bloggry!  Thank you Elly for my wonderful life.

To Damien for his endless work over the past four years, in preparing for the wonderful event that the Irish Blog Awards has become.  To all those Sponsors for providing Awards, prizes, booze and anything else required to make the evening go with a swing, and to all who worked in the background.  I applaud you!

To the judging panel for giving of their time to read, mark and inwardly digest all the nominations I sing my praises.

I look forward to tonight and wish all the finalists well.  May the winners feel what I felt (and I don;t mean Grandad! 🙄 ) on the stage last year!  Have fun and a wonderful year ahead!